Vasco players - led by striker Eder Luís - celebrate a goal against Coritiba (Fotocom.net)
After a two week leave of absence, brazilfooty.com is back! My sincere apologies for the bad timing of the break (if only it was in the middle of the State Championships instead of crunch Libertadores, Brazilian Cup and league matches!) but real life got in the way as it sometimes does. Quite a lot has happened so without further ado let me get started. Continue reading
Neymar celebrates his goal for Santos against Once Caldas (Getty Images)
Santos drew with Once Caldas in a chilly São Paulo to reach the last four of the Copa Libertadores. Neymar, once again, was the star of the show; he scored the goal in the 1-1 draw (which classified Santos 2-1 on aggregate) and was a constant outlet for Santos down the left hand side of the field. Continue reading
Lucas' São Paulo are out of the Brazilian Cup (Luiz Pires - VIPCOMM)
One day after Coritiba and Ceará progressed at the expense of Palmeiras and Flamengo, São Paulo are the latest big name to be knocked out of the Brazilian Cup by supposedly inferior opposition. They lost to Avaí in Florianópolis 3-1 (3-2 on aggregate). Vasco are the only ‘big name’ left and are through to the semi finals after beating Atlético Paranaense on away goals. The semi final first legs will be played next week.
In other news, Neymar is going to be a father for the first time and São Paulo is not going to be a host city in the 2013 Confederations Cup. The five cities that will be hosting the competition are: Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Brasilia and Salvador.
A kick in the teeth? (Alexandre Loureiro/VIPCOMM)
Ceará, the team from the state of… you guessed it… Ceará, beat Flamengo in the Brazilian Cup to reach the semi-final of the competition. They drew 2-2 on the night but progress thanks their 2-1 win in Rio last week. Pretty big upset this considering the difference in the size and cost of the two teams. They will play Coritiba in the semi-final, after they also caused an upset by beat Palmeiras 6-2 on aggregate. They won the first leg 6-0 last week. Continue reading
Santos beat Colo Colo 3-2 at home in their must win game last night. There chances of qualifying for the next phase are far from certain though. Last night they had Neymar, Elano and Ze Eduardo sent off and they will all miss the next game away to Cerro Porteño.
Fluminense are all but out of the competition after losing to Nacional from Uruguay 2-0.
Internacional lost 1-0 against Jaguares in Mexico but still lead their group with one game to go.
In the Brazilian Cup, São Paulo beat Santa Cruz 2-0 to go through to the next round. Atlético Mineiro were the only big club to surprisingly lose.
Will write more soon.
Leandro Damião has now scored 13 goals in 8 games for Inter (Alexandre Lops/SCInter/VIPCOMM)
Cruzeiro smash six past Deportes Tolima, while Internacional win away from home 4 x 1 in Bolivia. Santos lose 3 x 2 in Chile against Colo Col. Flamengo and Palmeiras both win and progress in the Brazilian Cup. Continue reading
Adriano Michael Jackson (Getty Images)
Adriano Michael Jackson -named so because of moonwalk goal celebrations – scored four goals versus Comercial from Piauí last night in the Brazilian Cup. Palmeiras comfortably progressed after winning the match 5-1 and 7-2 on aggregate. Definitely, the most interesting thing about this game however is the interesting technique adopted by Comercial’s masseur. Forget the injured player, this guy wants to get on TV and this sort of opportunity doesn’t come along too often. Check it out. Brilliant!
In other Brazilian Cup results, Botafogo from Rio rode their luck to get past River Plate from Sergipe (That’s like a team from Hackney Marshes being called Manchester United) on penalties. Atlético Mineiro destroyed Iape from the Amazon jungle 8-1. First division team Atlético-GO beat Brusque from Santa Catarina on away goals to progress and a team called ABC are also in the next round. Very creative name that.
Things are picking up for Vasco under new coach Ricardo Gomes (Maurício Val / FOTOCOM.NET)
The standout result of the Brazilian Cup this week was Vasco’s 6-1 away win over Comercial-MS (the MS means that this team is from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul). The idea that there are no more easy games in football anymore is not entirely true when you come up against a team from Mato Grosso do Sul (Santos beat Naviraiense, a team from the same state, 10-0 in the Brazilian Cup last year). However, credit must still go to Vasco. Continue reading
Ronaldinho (Maurício Val/VIPCOMM)
Ronaldinho’s Flamengo ran out 3-0 winners against a well drilled and skilful northern team called Murici in the Brazilian cup on Wednesday night. This is the first time I’ve watched Flamengo this season (they don’t show Rio state Championship games on TV in São Paulo). Despite the glossy score line – which allows Flamengo to progress without a second leg – I was not impressed. Continue reading